Into the Wild

Scott and I watched Into the Wild the other night and I can't stop thinking about it. I'd heard all the hype and watched interviews with the makers and the actors and heard Oprah herald this kid as a hero so I was immediately on the defensive from the get go. I was determined to prove this kid wasn't a hero and was in fact very self-centered and arrogant, and that the movie was just a bit of ultra-liberal Sean Penn propaganda about the evils of society. But to my surprise that is not what I've taken away from it at all. There are two things that stand out:

A. His parents were ignorant and it's just sad and regrettable and unfortunate and heart breaking when stupid parents mess up kids. But his parents were so self-absorbed and their moral framework was so skewed they didn't know they were messing him up so much and they'd convinced themselves what they were doing was ok. This has a couple of implications:

1. His sister who grew up in the same environment seems to be handling her life in a much less dramatic way. So this is to say kids are all individual and will react to the same situation in different ways.
2. Is there any way to recognize that you, as a parent, are having an ill-effect on your kids before it's too late? There are certainly very obvious things they were doing wrong (extra-marital relationship, abuse, etc) that we would hopefully recognize and avoid, but what about on a smaller more subtle scale. This is a scary thought.

B. My overwhelming takeaway (corporate speak) is sadness and regret. This kid did something very extreme to "find himself" and, say what you will (or what I would) about how selfish or dramatic or irrational it was, but it did work. In the end he came to the realization that "Happiness is only real when shared" and was ready to go home. He was ready to re-join society and his family and with how smart he was and determined and capable, and with a deep personal understanding of this concept, he would no doubt have had an amazing life. But he didn't get that chance and that's just really tragic.

So I guess my review is: for you conservatives out there, don't be scared off by the fact that it was made by Sean Penn. The cinematography is breathtaking and the story passed along some thought provoking and moving messages.

**Disclaimer: it is rated R and has some gratuitous nakedness - as one might expect in the wild.